Giant Obama-Romney Mock Campaign Auction Descends on Denver

**Over 40,000 Americans call on Jim Lehrer to ask Candidates for views on getting money out of politics as giant Obama & Romney Puppets Demonstration held in Denver**

Denver - On Tuesday, Elections not Auctions staged a giant mock auction featuring supersize Mitt Romney and Barack Obama figures being auctioned off to a crowd of SuperPACs, corporate sponsors and wealthy donors bidding with paddles.

The event was organised by nonpartisan group Avaaz as the launch of their Elections not Auctions campaign (electionsnotauctions.org/) to push for a constitutional amendment designed to get big money out of politics.

Last Thursday, Elections not Auctions was joined by Free Speech for People, unPAC and Demos in delivering a petition signed by more than 40,000 Americans to debate moderator Jim Lehrer calling on him to ask the candidates if they’d support calling on Congress to study and propose such an amendment if elected.

The mock auction took place at two sites in Denver, in Skyline Park at 4:00 pm and earlier in the day at the City Hall building. Standing on the back of a truck bedecked with a giant sign reading “Time to Debate: a constitutional amendment to get big money out of politics,” an auctioneer solicited bids for each candidate from a crowd of attendees, each waving auction paddles festooned with logos of Super PACs or the names of wealthy donors and industries. The auctioneer then proceeded to auction off closely contested races from around the country.

The campaign plans to re-enact the auction in Denver again on Wednesday.

Avaaz Campaign Director, Ian Bassin who is leading Avaaz’s Elections not Auctions campaign said: “Voters of all political stripes are sick of the flood of campaign cash that’s drowning our democracy. On Wednesday, Americans want to hear the candidates debate whether it’s time to consider a constitutional amendment to fix this billion dollar problem. Our country deserves elections, not auctions.”

On the eve of the first presidential debate the event was intended place the issue of record levels of money in politics front and center for the candidates to address on Wednesday night. Reports estimate that a record $6 billion will be spent this campaign cycle, while repeated polls show that a vast majority of Americans of all political stripes think that this flood of campaign cash is corrupting our democracy.

Avaaz is a 16-million-person global campaigning organisation that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (“Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages). Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13 countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages.